DB_Cooper

See if you get a Cabinet appointment when Brad takes DC by storm sorta off-topic, but who wants to bet that somewhere, in some dreary legal office, some legal aide has been assigned to scour these very forums for evidence of leakage. And here we are, full of mirth, making light of their efforts, however maximus flaccidus (latin for weak), to hide the ECONOMIC TRUTH!!! We want bargains and we will not be denied!!! We will stack coupons and properly fill out our rebate forms and we will hit these stores like a human bargain hunting tsunami, and when the dust clears, their shelves will be MT (EMP-TY) and we will have SUV's with roof racks loaded to the gills and we will laugh into the night as we drive off with unheard of savings and while they gaze around their now-nekkid stores in disbelief at the consuming that has been wreaked, we will retire to our condos of solitude, crack open a cold, frosty beer, and try to decipher teensy assembly instructions printed in 16 languages, and then we're going to South Carolina and Arizona and North Dakota and New Mexico, and we're going to California and Texas and New York. And we're going to South Dakota and Oregon and Washington and Michigan. And then we're going to Washington, D.C. to take back the White House YAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!" http://farmgolf.com/TheParisReport/HowardAtTheSalamiFactory.jpg

If anyone can fix the economy it's Brad. He knows how to SAVE money, not spend it like it's going out of style. Can any of the other candidates say that? No! He could also institute a Federal Department of Sales, and tax stores who send Cease & Desist letters into the stone age. Plus he could have neat things like coupons on campaign signs. Vote Brad. Vote early. Vote often.

If I was looking for a handheld I would go with the Garmin 60csx or the new Magellan Tritons: http://gpstracklog.typepad.com/gps_tracklog/2007/08/more-on-the-mag.html Definitely get a SirfStar III-equipped unit for portables (better tracking under canopy) (no BF deals on them, but some pretty good prices on the web for the Garmin unit, which is probably due to new units on the way in '08 or pressure from the upcoming Tritons. HTH

Well if you guys celebrated Thanksgiving like all good Americans do, then you would have a Black Friday of your very own. Have any of you ever investigated to see if maybe the Pilgrams also discovered Newfoundland or New Brunswick or Saskatchewan? I'll bet they did! Heck there wasn't much else to do when they landed. So maybe you all should go and march on Ottawa and DEMAND that your socialist stooge government get off their toques (Quebecois for "davenport") and start celebrating like the rest of the civilized world. Then you too could mop up on bargains galore and laugh at the Belgians and the rest of Europe who sit bitterly in their sidewalk cafes trying to act aloof while being EMOTIONALLY DEVASTATED that they are going home to bags of coal in their xmas stockings instead of 500" plasma TV's!

What would they have on Canadian maps? Bobsled trails, Tim Horton's and Hockey rinks, eh? If I was going Garmin, I would hold out for the 760 Nuvi over the 660, have checked out the 660 in person and it leaves me somewhat cold. Interface has been dumbed down for the masses and the flip up antenna is something else to break when it slides off the dash. These guys agree: http://www.gpsmagazine.com/2007/10/garmin_nuvi_760_review.php In store the unit that impressed me the most was the Magellan (4000-something, can't recall the exact model #) - CC had them on display and it was quick, clear and accurate. If spending $400, that's where I would lean (or perhaps the quirky but innovative Navigon 7100, which includes free traffic) Of course Best Buy is the devil incarnate, and I would trust Congress before I would ever trust those bastages again, crazy lines for a few morsels, rude & incompetent customer service instore and even worse on the phone makes any offers from that place out of contention. If your heart is set on a Nuvi 660, check the web first, should be able to snag one for $499 or less with NO TAX, NO LONG LINES, NO RUDE CUSTOMER SERVICE and so on.

ETA: 1 vote for stickying this thread to let everyone know who the clowns are in the retail world and also suggest sending this link to the CEO's of every company involved (to let them know how incompetent their marketing stooges are) and post this on the financial boards for the companies in question. Retail is cutthroat, and these dingalings make a HUGE chunk of their profits between now & Christmas. Precisely NOT the time you want to be pi$$ing your potential customers off. Face it, they don't give a rat's patooey about us lowlife scum customers, all they respond to is WALL STREET, and the last thing they want is investors getting skittish because they are farting around with their primo selling season. So far I have seen precious little this season that makes me want to break out my wallet, perhaps I will get up early on Black Friday and just go outand clog traffic for the hell of it. I will be the one in the beige minivan driving 25MPH in the fast lane with my left blinker on

I think that is precisely why they (and others) want their crapola ads pulled - they are relying on spur of the moment Black Friday frenzy to kick in, rather than allowing people time to carefully consider the deals, and in most cases, how bad they suck. In addition to my eternal boycott of Best Buy (who welshed on a rebate, even though I had copies of ALL proper documentation) I will add these bums, and gleefully avoid them not only on Black Friday, but throughout the rest of the year: Wal-Mart - threatens legal action and affiliate account closure if ad is posted Like I will miss 400 pound whales on motorized scooters loading their baskets with ChiCom crap. WM has NOTHING I need, and their prices can almost ALWAYS be bettered elsewhere. Why put up with herds of shoppers who do not bathe? Target - terminates affiliate account with no warning after ad is posted Better than WalMart, but essentially the same crap, albeit with slightly slimmer clientele. OfficeMax - sends cease & desist order demanding ad be taken down OfficeMax? Are they still in business? F.Y.E - terminates affiliate account with no warning a couple weeks after ad is posted Not much to say, never shopped there, not interested in trying em out, this certainly doesn't make me interested trying them out Linens-N-Things - sends cease & desist to several other sites (not us, yet) Nobody will stand in line for bath towels or Cheap kitchen appliances. Or genuine imported imitation faux granite soap dishes. OK, maybe women who live alone* (*if you don't count their 6 cats) Macy's - sends cease & desist to several other BF sites (not us, yet) The last time I was in Macy's, all I saw were "urban shoppers" wearing big puffy down "how much can I steal" parkas. Department store dinosaur. hhgregg - sends ad to us directly, then demands it be taken down Never heard of them, but if their store staff is as bipolar as their marketing, might be worth checking out just to see what mental disorders develop. And as for every law firm making $$$ off this lame-brained marketing suicide: YOU SUCK! EVEN MORE THAN MOST LAWYERS!!! And that, dear friends, is all I have to say about that!

Your analysis about only disgruntled customers posting ratings on that site (reseller ratings) dooesn't explain why other stores have higher ratings (some MUCH higher). With 300 million people in the country you can treat a bunch like dirt and there will still be others who have not yet (with yet being the operative word) been subjected to rude and/or incompetent BB employees. Like PT Barnum said...

Best Buy refused to honor a rebate after BF a year ago. I had all the documentation and sent it multiple times to BB and they still welshed. Even if they don't have rebates any more, they will never see another dime of my money. Check the reviews at reseller ratings - Best Buy has the lowest rating of all the big box retailers. Everywhere else has been pretty decent, although a Trend Micro rebate out of Miami is claiming there was "no UPC" (so I have to send them a xerox of it - ALWAYS copy everything)

(Dunham's Sporting Goods, that is) haven't seen any ads from them - anyone know the scoop? Thanks!

you are crazy, lol! gonna go back out?

EMS is gonna love gettin calls all night from people (maybe with a little too much to drink) catchin pneumonia from bein' outside all night. If ya gotta go, no cotton, wear a hat and layer up! brrrrrr........

bb (among other stores) has lots of limited quantity "loss leaders". They might make little or nothing on them, but they hook the customer into getting ready to shop, whetting their appetite, so that when they get in the store they are gonna buy something. Hot Items gone? No problemo, plenty of other (more profitable) stuff to steer them to. Seriously, they couldn't get more than 10 "24" DVD's per store? (check the ads) Anything to entice the bargain hunter in us all. All worked up and then pfffffft. Minimum quantities are just enough to avoid getting hit with "Bait & Switch" actions from TPTB.

No, because good service is rewarded with positive feedback. Enthusiastic because it's that good. Other stores were also listed (including WalMart, STP & others) as were the composite averages of ALL stores (big & small). Best Buy is at the bottom of the heap. The nadir. The abyss. Lower than a politician slithering for a vote. Hope you are not hinting I did not read a policy, I exchanged a defective good at the store as per directions from BB. Since the exchange transaction was after Black Friday, they claimed they were no longer bound to honor the rebate (although I had all original transaction slips). "Most" is a relative term... what % of people have a problem at BB? 1%? 5%? 10%? Who knows (and doubtful that BB would let that sort of data out). All we can say is that there is comparative data from a site (with no axe to grind against any particular store) that indicates BB has a far poorer general rating than ALL stores. If you have data showing BestBuy has average or better than average customer ratings, I'm sure everyone would like to see it, until then, my BF dollars are anxiously awaiting being released elsewhere.

B&H is hardly a Mom n Pop operation, next time your in Manhattan check em out (or ask any photographer). Plenty of other large outfits (like Sierra Trading Post 22 8.07 ) too, including the world's largest retailer (Walmart 62 5.67) As for others mentioned, they are also covered in Reseller Ratings, and although not stellar, their ratings are generally higher than BestBuy. Best Buy 408 2.03 Circuit City 224 2.96 CompUSA 330 2.37 Even more telling is taking the time to read some of the complaints. I would note that valid order numbers are required when rating a store (so spammers can't trash or inflate a store's rating) btw, ChompUSA's ratings for the past 6 months have also been in the dumper. No particular fan of theirs, although they did work to resolve a problem last year while BB told me (in essence) to pound salt.

If you go over to Fatwallet or other boards you will find that BestBuy (referred to on FW as "WorstBuy") has one of the worst reputations out there among electronics retailers. I have NEVER stated that "the majority of customers have problems with Best Buy", rather that more people have problems with Best Buy than others. There's a difference. (and the ratings on an independent site back that up). If you want to roll the dice and count on that rebate, then fine, your choice. Many people will (and many will have no problem) I'm posting information that I believe is relevant, whatever people want to do with it is their choice. Of all the companies I have dealt with over the years, Best Buy is the only one that had a problem and not only would not make it right, but was arrogant and rude in the process. YMMV.

After sending in the full documentation package (including notes & times on all calls to "customer service") multiple times I threw in the towel. Was spending more time than the rebate was worth (and don't think they don't know that) plus doesn't help blood pressure dealing with rude people at the rebate center. My posting today is just a little "thank you" to the company that welshed on its promise. They could offer gold plate Maseratis filled with hookers & gin for FREE* (*after rebate) and I wouldn't take em up on it. Just a big caveat emptor to all my fellow Black Friday fans (plenty of other deals out there anyway) Actually, if I was selfish about it, I would encourage everyone to go to BB, leaving the other stores empty for me to get in & get out of early Good hunting! :)

Not necessarily. companies like B&H dispell that theory: B&H Photo-Video-Pro Audio Customer Satisfaction Six-Month Rating: 9.49 Six-Month Reviews: 624 Lifetime Reviews: 1300 Lifetime Rating: 9.14

And that is why I referred to the resellerratings.com link. Compare Best Buy to every other major retailer out there. They are at the bottom of the heap (ratings are on a scale of 0-10, 10 being the best) Best Buy Customer Satisfaction Six-Month Rating: 1.85 Six-Month Reviews: 23 Lifetime Reviews: 390 Lifetime Rating: 2.03 Here are the averages for ALL stores: Average Store: 7.30 High Average: 9.10 Low Average: 3.53 Circuit City has a 3.33 rating, for further comparison.

It was a BB rebate.

Doorbusters or not, I would look around at Best Buy's reputation for rebate honoring & customer service. Try resellerratings com and compare their ratings to CC, Fry's, Sears, anywhere. BestBuy is at the bottom of the heap and for a good reason. All their "deals" are usually tied in with rebates, which they do everything possible to weasel out of. They burned me last year, and even after I sent in the copies of all the (correct) documentation, they still wouldn't honor it. Standing in line for a deal that may or may not materialize is not my idea of a fun lottery. I will shop tomorrow, but not at BB. (but good luck if you do)

BestBuy burned me on a rebate last year (ordered online, shipped defective product, told me to exchange it at store, then said rebate no longer applied). Sent 4 FULL SETS of documentation to Best Buy and they still said no dice. Never again. (you may have better luck, but I wouldn't trust them with a nickel. Check resellerratings com for other's take on BestBuy) (I wound up getting a ThinkPad though IBM's (now Lenovo) EPP plan. Awesome machine.

Best Buy did not honor a rebate on an item I bought last BF (was defective, they replaced, then said it no longer qualified for rebate) , rebate hotline phone workers were very rude. Worst store ever. Would never shop there again.

Best Buy burned me on a rebate last year's Black Friday (shipped defective merchandise, then claimed the replacement (identical item) no longer qualified for rebate. If you compare all the stores on resellerratings com, you will find that Best Buy is the absolute lowest (1.85 on a scale of 1-10 over the last 6 months), Circuit City is a little better, and Sears, Kmart & Walmart are considerably higher. Then there are the good guys like B&H & Sierra Trading Post with ratings in the 8's or 9's. Just a friendly heads up and cautioning not to be swayed by the rebates offered by Best Buy. They did not honor mine. Better luck to all this year! :)

BestBuy did not honor a rebate from last year's Black Friday (sent a defective product, exchanged it, then claimed the rebate was no longer valid. Even with all documentation. I would shop anywhere but BB.